Burn Center

Southeast's Best Burn Care

Burns are the ultimate trauma. Unbearably painful, patients typically deal with extensive physical and emotional scarring. At Grady, we treat the injury – and care for the individual.

Because burns affect every system in a patient’s body, our doctors, nurses and other burn and wound experts collaborate with specialists from across Grady to deliver the precise combination of care patients need. But, because full recovery is only possible with support and understanding from loved ones, our focus extends to family and friends who can provide ongoing assistance.

Why Choose Us

We understand your concerns and questions. At Grady, you’ll find guidance and support.

Few burn centers have our experience. As Atlanta’s only comprehensive burn center, we care for patients of all ages – adults and children – who have experienced severe burn injuries from flames, scalds, chemical, or electrical accidents, including those requiring complicated wound management.

Our 23 private in-patient rooms are equipped with special beds that can regulate temperature and relieve pressure, so we can safely care for even the most critically injured patients. The in-patient unit also has a dedicated space for physical and occupational therapy, and a playroom for our young patients. We know burn patients are more comfortable when surrounded by loved ones. Our family waiting area can accommodate overnight stays by immediate family. To make a long-term stay a little easier, we added lockers, laundry, and other amenities.

We treat 3,500 adult and pediatric burn patients each year, addressing their unique needs and distinct physical and psychological challenges. And, since in-patient care can take weeks or months, we make it our business to get to know and understand our patients.

Grady offers one more advantage: We’ve spent more than 125 years building the most comprehensive medical services in Atlanta, to deliver the best care possible.

We care for common adult burns, which tend to involve flame, grease, chemicals, and accelerants like gasoline. Most people burned in Atlanta area vehicular accidents come to Grady because we have the expertise to handle virtually any kind of burn.

We know how to care for burned children. More than 20 percent of our patients are kids. The most common pediatric burns involve scalds with hot water, such as cooking soups, microwaveable noodles, and overly hot bath water.

Hidradenitis suppurativa usually begins as pimple-like bumps on the skin, commonly on the underarms and groin. If it worsens, the pimple-like bumps can grow deep into the skin, become painful, and cause scarring.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a bacterial infection of tissue under the skin that surrounds muscles, nerves, fat, and blood vessels. The bacteria most commonly get into the body through a break in the skin. Once in the body, they spread quickly and destroy the tissue they infect. Our burn team members have significant experience with the disease.

Our Services

In-patient care

Grady has one of the nation’s more experienced and respected burn units, verified by the American Burn Association. Each year, we care for 3,500 pediatric and adult burn in-patients, providing round-the-clock care.

Outpatient care

Our outpatient burn care provides wound management, rehabilitation, and psychosocial support for patients whose injuries do not require ongoing hospitalization, including burn patients after they are discharged.

Scar revision

Scar revision is surgery to improve or reduce the appearance of scars. It also restores function, and corrects skin changes or disfigurement caused by an injury, wound, poor healing, or previous surgery. Our burn team includes several surgeons with deep scar revision experience.

Skin and soft tissue care

Grady treats skin and soft tissue injuries and infections that can threaten tissue and even a patient’s life. Our experts use a combination of medicines and surgery to cure patients and restore them to their daily routines.

Acticoat dressings

These dressings use the antimicrobial properties of silver to prevent bacterial penetration. The advantage of these dressings with burn patients is that they do not require frequent changing, which an experience that can be extremely painful for patients.

Child life specialist

Using developmentally supportive play and activities, our child life specialist helps patients prepare for and undergo treatments and procedures. They also help patients and families transition from inpatient care to outpatient care, home care, and the return to school.

Research

Sometimes, the standard of care is not enough. That’s when Grady research offers hope.

As one of the nation’s elite teaching hospitals, our clinicians have been involved in research that has literally helped to redefine how burn patients are treated around the world. At any given moment, our team members are involved in research to find better, more effective treatments.

The benefit to patients is clear: They have access to tomorrow’s medicine today, providing options unavailable at many other institutions.

Grady Stories

Our Doctors

Every hospital treats patients. At Grady, we strive to treat them better, more efficiently and more effectively. Our mission to care for all who need us attracts heart specialists from across the nation. They are drawn here by the knowledge that we test the limits of medicine by innovating existing standards of care, researching cutting-edge drugs and therapies, and exploring novel treatments.

Our zeal for innovation has given Grady a national reputation for medical advancement in areas like burn, wound care, stroke, neurological diseases, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, infectious diseases, women’s health, sickle cell, and other conditions cared for by specialists in our centers of excellence. Access to all of these accredited practices is available to every Grady patient and our collegial environment means that specialists routinely help to care their colleagues’ patients.

Though clinicians are drawn by Grady’s reputation, most are employed by the Emory and Morehouse schools of medicine, which staff our medical services. Grady is one of a handful of U.S. health systems whose patients are cared for by faculty members of two medical schools. This reinforces our commitment to ongoing innovation.